Global Warming and Amarnath

Amarnath temple is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in India and also incredibly picturesque. The beauty is breathtaking but the five days journey of approximately 40 miles back and forth is extremely strenuous. Well, there are countless temples in India with millions of visitors everyday — what’s so special about Amarnath?

The cave is situated at an height of 3888 m. (13,000 ft) in northern India and is known to be around for the last 5,000 years. Every year the ice naturally forms a cylindrical structure that resembles the imgae of Lord Shiva. It waxes during May to August and gradually wanes after the two-month period. This supposed to be the “miracle of the nature” is basically a stalagmite.

The journey to Amarnath takes almost 5 days back and forth from the base camp and it is reported almost 70,000 people from different parts of India visit every year — some enjoy the grandeur of nature, some seek spiritual/religious fulfillment.

The trekking route is accessible for the mass only for two months (July and August) in a year, so is the private chopper/flight service.

I am neither overwhelmed nor bothered by the mythological or spiritual legendary of Amarnath but the wonder of the natural stalagmite formation on a regular basis – year after years – really intrigues me, let alone the serenity of it.

I like this article alot. It’s a shame we aren’t more aware of places like this. They are so beautiful and need to be noticed more. Places like this make me want to take up backpacking and just traveling around to see what there is to see.